RETTING 109 



to sink and then a certain weight lifted from off the planks, 

 allows the beets to rise and still float under the water at the 

 required depth. See also Fig. 63. 



The watering should be completed in eight to twelve days, 

 according to the temperature, softness, and purity of the 

 water and the frequent or occasional addition of flood or 

 spring water. When the temperature is less than 60 F. it 

 may require as many as fourteen days to complete the steeping. 



The flax is sufficiently retted when the stems readily break 

 without bending, and when the fibre parts easily from the 

 wood or pith. 



It is perfectly retted when, after taking off about 3 in. of 

 straw near the middle of the stem, it is possible to pull the 

 flax stem away from the fibres without breaking or leaving 

 any fibres attached to it. 



As the process of retting is nearing completion it is necessary, 

 each day, to carefully examine a few straws taken from 

 different parts of the retting pond because the yield and 

 quality of the fibre depend so much on the correctness of 

 the retting. It is inadvisable to be wholly influenced by 

 external factors or formulas of time and temperature 

 important items notwithstanding. The actual completion of 

 the retting process must be determined by the condition of 

 the straw itself. 



The chief difficulty in retting is to decide the exact period 

 when the process is complete, and to have the courage to 

 remove the flax from the water or leave it in a little longer. 

 Preferably it is best to fully ret, so that the flax will have as 

 short a time on the grass or in the " gait " as possible, which 

 also ensures that none or very few of the flax fibres will remain 

 adhering to the woody pith in the subsequent operation of 

 scutching. Coarse flax generally rets quicker than fine flax. 

 It is, however, safer, with the modern Irish system of 

 scutching, to slightly under ret than over ret, since the former 

 can be partially rectified whilst the latter cannot. In the 

 former case the beets may be allowed to remain somewhat 



